Definition of Whorf Hypothesis The Whorf hypothesis is the view that language shapes cognition; that is, concepts and ways of thinking depend on language. People who speak significantly different languages, then, view the world differently. Also called the hypothesis of linguistic relativity or the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, the Whorf hypothesis was named after the early twentieth-century linguist Benjamin Whorf, who claimed that, because the Hopi language expressed statements about time in importantly dissimilar ways than other languages, the Hopi held a different conception of time than other peoples. Related to linguistic relativity is linguistic determinism, the view that language necessitates how one thinks (thinking outside the bounds of ones language is impossible). Some psychologists believe the Whorf hypothesis helps explain cognition; like linguistic determinism, however, it is highly controversial.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 03:57:35 +0000
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